Cyclone Selwyn (1998)

Cyclone Selwyn reached Category 1 in the South Indian between December 25, 1997 and January 3, 1998, with a lowest pressure of 960 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Cyclone Selwyn, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1998 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin: South Indian
Dates: December 25, 1997 to January 3, 1998
Peak strength: Category 1, 65 kt (75 mph)
Lowest pressure: 960 mb (28.35 inHg)
Landfall: No; closest approach 395 km (245 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy: 5.2
Identifier: SH091998

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads carries a casualty or damage figure for this storm.

Track

Time (UTC)	Position	Wind	Pressure	Status
Dec 25, 18:00	12.0S 111.0E	20 kt	1005 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 26, 00:00	12.1S 111.5E	25 kt	1003 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 26, 06:00	12.5S 111.9E	25 kt	1001 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 26, 12:00	12.8S 111.8E	30 kt	998 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 26, 18:00	13.3S 111.6E	30 kt	993 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 27, 00:00	13.9S 111.1E	35 kt	988 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 27, 06:00	14.5S 110.5E	45 kt	981 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 27, 12:00	14.9S 110.0E	65 kt	971 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 27, 18:00	15.3S 109.4E	60 kt	963 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 28, 00:00	15.6S 108.9E	65 kt	960 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 28, 06:00	15.9S 108.4E	65 kt	960 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 28, 12:00	16.3S 107.8E	65 kt	961 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 28, 18:00	16.8S 107.3E	65 kt	965 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 29, 00:00	17.1S 106.5E	65 kt	966 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 29, 06:00	17.4S 105.6E	60 kt	970 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 29, 12:00	17.5S 104.7E	50 kt	971 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 29, 18:00	17.4S 103.9E	45 kt	976 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 30, 00:00	17.1S 103.0E	45 kt	981 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 30, 06:00	16.9S 102.1E	45 kt	986 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 30, 12:00	16.6S 101.4E	40 kt	991 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 30, 18:00	16.5S 100.7E	35 kt	996 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 31, 00:00	16.4S 100.0E	35 kt	998 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 31, 06:00	16.3S 99.2E	35 kt	998 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 31, 12:00	16.3S 98.2E	35 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Dec 31, 18:00	16.3S 97.2E	35 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 1, 00:00	16.4S 96.2E	30 kt	999 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 1, 06:00	16.6S 95.2E	25 kt	998 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 1, 12:00	16.8S 94.3E	25 kt	998 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 1, 18:00	17.3S 93.3E	30 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 2, 00:00	17.6S 91.9E	25 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 2, 06:00	18.3S 90.7E	25 kt	1000 mb	Tropical storm
Jan 2, 12:00	18.9S 89.8E	25 kt		Tropical storm
Jan 2, 18:00	19.4S 89.0E	25 kt		Tropical storm
Jan 3, 00:00	19.7S 88.3E			Tropical storm

Other South Indian storms of 1998

What this means

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Sources

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.